Our audit sought to determine whether Michigan designed and implemented (1) awarding processes that ensured Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) fund grants were used to support local educational agencies (LEA) and institutions of higher education (IHE) that were most significantly impacted by the pandemic, or LEAs, IHEs, and other education-related entities within the States that were deemed essential for carrying out emergency educational services; and (2) monitoring processes that ensured subgrantees used GEER grant funds in accordance with pandemic relief aid laws and other applicable Federal requirements.
Among our findings, we determined that for five of the seven programs that Michigan funded with its GEER grant funds, Michigan could not support that it awarded the funds to eligible entities that were deemed essential for carrying out emergency educational services, providing childcare and early childhood education, providing social and emotional support, or protecting education-related jobs. As a result, Michigan lacks assurance that its awards—totaling $5.4 million—to four entities under these programs aligned with the purpose of the GEER grant fund. Further, Michigan did not have a written plan to monitor its GEER grant subgrantees
We made five recommendations, including that Michigan (1) provide documentation, or a full and detailed explanation, of the process it used to determine that the four education-related entities that received GEER grant funds were essential for carrying out emergency educational services, providing childcare and early childhood education, providing social and emotional support, or protecting education-related jobs; (2) develop and implement a process to ensure that it documents the criteria and decisions made for awarding future GEER grant funds in accordance with applicable requirements; and (3) timely design and implement a monitoring plan that will ensure subgrantees’ uses of GEER grant funds comply with pandemic relief aid laws and other applicable Federal requirements.
Implementing Pandemic Relief Laws
This is one of three reports in this audit series, with Missouri and Oklahoma. See also our Pandemic Relief Aid page for more information on our work in this area.